SPAEE GAmERNote to consistancy freaks on Dreadnaught. Yes,I know that a matter /antimatter 8MA drive isimpractical (you need to convert 33,000 tons ofmass into energy to accelerate only 1000 tonsof mass, the photon blast would be ten timesthe power the sun gives to the earth so if onemillionth of that reaches the vessel as wasteheat it would immediately evaporate, etc., etc.)But the other "respectable" drive lying aroundwas the Bussard Ramjet (if you haven't heardof it read Tau Zero by Poul Anderson) and thathas to be cylindrical. Note the sphere haspractically no blind spots. You could have aBussard "ferry" to cart DN's to the star butthat would needlessly complicate the game. Oh,well! •••.• Winchell Chung

1

the

Issue Number 3.

/

$1

:t.

Diameter: 450 feetMass: 50,000 tons

A) artif icial gravity and gyrosB) ship controlC) crew quarters and misc.D) gunnery controlE) ammunitionF) supplies and life supportG) ice and fuel (auxilia ry shield)H) planetary attack weaponsI) matter /antimatter photon driveJ) electromagnetic weaponryK) missile silosL) engineering deckM) planetary attack controlN) planetary attack cowling, mirrored

for focusing of photon blast

STELLAR CONQUEST battle scene:Lone Dreadnaught battles an Attack group.

Winchell Chung jr.

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3

Number 3 $1

Ih. SPAEE IiAmER

Copyright 0 1975 by MetagamingConcepts. Printed in U.S.A.

The Space Garner is published byMetagaming Concepts quarterly and isdevoted to SF&:F gaming. A six issuesubscription is $5, renewal $4, in theU.S. and Canada only. Contributionsearn 1/2 ~ per word cash or 1 ~ perword purchase credit.

even if we don't get a single other sub­scriber. At least four TSG's will corneout in 1976. We will also publish atleast one staff game design and one out­side design. That represents the bareminimum we can do in our conservativecash and carry approach to futureplanning.

Much more likely, even in a veryconservative scenario, is that we willroughly double the size of our customerbase and business during 1976. Thatmeans we have to put our business op­erations of producing and processing ona more professionally efficient basis inorder to reach the goal of 'invisible'customer service. We'll have to do abit of mental juggling to keep TSG in­furmallya possession of our customerswhile striving for Vulcan-like efficiencyin operations. But, we I re starting tobe able to juggle garner and s -f fanneeds in the same zine, so we can pro­bably manage efficiency and informalitytoo. If it's true that we're all a littleschizophrenic under the skin, then may­be we can put that to work for us in akind of split-personality approach. Or,rna ybe there's nothing contradictory atall in easy-going informality hand-in­hand with diligent efficiency. Hope so!

Everyone is sure to note the numberand variety of contributions this issue.We hoped our reader participation goalwould be achieved, but it's the kind ofthing you don't know 'til it happens.Even though we goofed printing the l~ 12~

rate in stead of 112~ Il~, we're sure toget a lot of variety, imagination, andthoughtfulness in material. TSG~your magazine in many ways and weillhang loose as we'd hoped.

There's no editorial this issue. May­be "if you can It say something nice,don't say anything at all" is a sort ofeditorial comment all in itself. Edi­torials will appear in later issues, butnot necessarily in everyone. Weld liketo make 32 pages or more in 1976 andmaybe go bi-monthly as early as nextfall. Right now, about all we're looking

. forward to is a year-end breather tolet 1976 have a chance to gell in ourminds and to catch up on some of thereally great mail y'all send. See youin the new year •••. good gaming!

wants a low price. However, the con­sensus se"ms to be that subscriberswant us to do m.ore, even if the cost isa bit higher. $5, with a $4 renewalprice, is still pretty cheap (try it in1967 dollars), but it will allow us to doa few more things. Most improvementswill corne with a larger circulationforcing our unit cost down and our in­crea sing experience with publishing azine. We'd like to grow up to the visualimpact of some of the better-done s-fzines with a variety of material. Foryou garners who aren't familiar with s-fzines, you donlt have any idea how poor­ly put together some of the gaming zinesreally are.

Another pricing issue concerns ourdiscounts. No, we aren't giving themup! It's just that some publishers don'toffer wholesale terms and shipping ar­rangements attractive enough for us tocarry their games at a discount. Thisis particularly true of SPl and AvalonHill boxed games. The lack of favorablediscounts plus the mailing and handlingcharge for boxed games is just toomuch to allow a discount to our sub­scribers. TRlPLANETARY is anothergame we'd like to carry, but our dis­count is just not favorable. Economic sis the main reason we do not sell somegames. The other chief reason is thatsome games aren It well done and wefeel it unfair to offer them as if theywere reasonable quality. Another fac­tor is that after we carry a game for awhile, the volume of orders for it slipsand it begins to be harder to justify thediscount to you.

In the feedback this time we ask ifyou'd be willing to buy some games frorrus at full or only nominal discount, like50/0. If you are, then it means we caneventuall y offer very good s -f game s onthe market and make TSG truly the onlything an s-f gamer really needs. Whenyou buy from us by mail, you would getat least the same price as other maildealers and you'd be directly helping astrictly s-f&:f operation. We will stilloffer out 15'\'0 or so discount for everygame we can buy economically. Whatwill probably happen is that after we'vecarried a title for a while, the 15'\'0 dis­count may slip to 10% to reflect the costof handling smaller volumes of more,different game s.

1976: Only a few things are reallydefinite for 197b right now.· We can con·tinue TSG at least as good as it is now

WHERE WE'RE GOING

Customer Service: There's no wayaround the fact that we were threeweeks late with TSG #2, four weekslate with THE YTHRl, and about a weeklate with this issue. Business opera­tions should ideally be invisible to ourreaders. Quality output should appearon schedule, plop, plop, plop in yourmailbox without you having a secondthought as to how it got there, exceptthat you wanted it. We failed that thisfall and excuses don't help.

What has happened is that our workhas expanded faster than available time.That accounts for, but doe.sn't excuse,late TSG's. THE YTHRI was sub­stantially finished in the summer andset aside for later publication. Whenit was pulled out in September we sawit with fresh eyes and couldn't resist aIfew· improvementsD Those 'few· im­provements rapidly escalated into afull-blown revision of the game and arules re-write. It isn't that the gamewasn't good as it was. Seeing it againafter a lapse just made some changesseem right to make the game do whatwe wanted, only more clearly.

Delay just isn't good for anybody.But, in this instance, the basic gamesystem has become even cleaner andsimple; optional rules were added; wegot the well-conceptualized WinchellChung rules cover; and we saw how wecould do two-way die cutting on thecounters from the War of the Wizardsgame. You end up with a better game,more for the same money, from thedelay. We'll still try our damnedestto be on schedule in the future. A s itis, we're very proud of the way THEYTHRI turned out. Now we know acooling -off period makes for bettergames.

Pricing: With this issue we've de­cided to go to $5 for six issues ofTSG, with a renewal for six is sues atthe $4 rate we'd already announced forJanuary oneD Current subscribers asof December 1, 1975, will be allowed toextend their subscriptions for an addi­tional six issues at the $3 rate untilDecember 31, 1975, as long as you don'tgo for more than issue number 20.The last issue number of your subscrip­tion appears in the upper right hand cor­ner of the mailing label.

We wanted a fairly inexpensive com­munications vehicle in TSG and everyone

Where We're GoingThe Escort Illusion

Edward C. CooperTwo Views of the Future

Neil ShapiroIgnoring Einstein and Newton

Scott RuschLettersS-F Gaming News IPlugsTSG #2 FeedbackReview: Tunnels &: Trolls

Brant BatesReview: Star Probe

Edward CooperSF &:F Game Rating sReview;War of the Worlds II

Da vid ReddingReview: Siege of Minas Tirith

Larry PoundReview: Battle of Five Armies

Larry PoundReview: Alien Space

Steve WestEldon Tannish: Part 3

CONTENTS

2 •••

4 •••

7•••

10..

21..

20 ..

12 •.14,.IS •.16 •.

22 ..

17 •.

19 •.

18 ..18 •.

Editor: Howard ThompsonSome interior illustrations by

Paul Jaquays

Our cover shows nine Attack (ATK)class ships battling an enemy Drcad­naught (DN). The DN has so many beamprojectors it emits a plane of energy,rather than a needle. Most of the ATK' sbeams are being dispersed by the DN'sprotective forcefield. The stardrive por­tion of the ATK' s is detachable for grea­ter maneuverability. The Attacks shownhave probably parked their stardrives a­round a convenient planet for later re­coveryc

4

(Two Scouts, with an Escort forprotection, investigate a new planetcIllustration by. Winchell Chung Jr.)

\\ '" D~ .~~ ViEy-!',\.-- .,~' -0-1= ..~

S(r"~"\·JeT5

Z-..~'l\<v~\""

The Scouts Star Drive is located atthe end of the fuselage. The twosecondarys are on either side and theAtmospheric ScramJ ets a re slungunder each wing. The Escortssecondary drive is only on one end,·unlike the Attacks.

Ed Cooper raises the interestingquestion of how much an Escortin Stellar Conquest is reallyworth. The lowly ESC seems toreveal hidden qualities for thealert player in all phases of thegame. no matter how you decideto figure the probabilities.

THE ESCORT ILLUSION

(Reprinted from Kelly Moorman'sInterstellar News copyright 1975, withhis permission.)

One common, recurrent flaw on thepart of most Stellar Conquest playersis to under estimate the value of theEscort (ESC). Why is still a mystery tome, though I have come to attribute itto two basic oversights. I think playersbecome too anxious for rapid militarybuildup and perhaps neglect fine detailin trying to be farsighted in lookingahead to future production years. In thecase of the latter, it is good to try andbe farsighted in a society level gamesuch as SC, yet SC is also a game ofmuch detail. Failure to recognize thishas cost many a player his position inthe game. myself included.

It's interesting to note, in reviewingpast games with other players. thereappeared to be a distinct lag in produc­tion around production years four andfive directly associated with overexpenditures for advanced shipping inthe early stages of the game. Playersspending their IU's for Attacks (ATK)during the first and second productionyears did not have the chance to increaseindustrial capacity to maximum effic­iency later on. Developing industry toolate can be a waste of IU' s that could bespent for better things. Remember, ittakes four production years or 16 gameturns for new industry to pay for itselfin terms of IU output. With wars possiblEas early as production year four or fivemany players find themselves over­whelmed by players who invested inindustry early. In the early stages of thegame where contact is restricted,because of the Ship Range Limit (rule9.1.1.1), a player who obtains ImprovedIndustrial Technology (IlT) almostimmediately and builds mostly industryis capable producing significant warmaterial just when war is most likely.Even though a players initial IU's wenttoward ship production he can't matchthe warship output of the player whoopted for early industrialization.

By the end of the fourth productionyear a player can have a total of 72million colonists and 20-30 extra IU'sfrom early inve stments making a totalyield in the area of 100 IU's. The earlyindustrializer is ;"ot only capable ofturning out numerous types of shipping,

he is economically prepared to haveother colonists venture forth in the forth.coming turns without crippling his pro­duction. Why with a little bit of risk. aplayer can up the figure of 100 IU's evenmore. He also has the ability to sendconstant probes (weak Ileets--mostlymade up of escorts!) deep into enemyterritory to keep other players offbalance, causing them to divert IU'sfrom industrial buildup into defense.Thus. the off balance player's industrialpotential is never fully realized.

To avoid this problem. the ESC mustbecome the workhorse of a player's fleetuntil such a time as ATK research (35IU's) can be pursued without seriouslydamaging a colony's chance for survival.Even when your first ATK I S are built.it may be wise to hold them in reserve.either building up for a first strike ortrying to convince your opponents youhaven't achieved that level of develop­ment yet.

Still. there are those who ask, "butwhy the Escort?" To theml ask, "Whynot the Escort?"

The Escort is the most versatile ofthe three types of ship; possible inStellar Conquest. A lot of players dis­agree. charging that the ESC is too aptto destruction by ATK's. These playershave once again failed to see the tacticaladvantages involved. especially in PBMgames where only another player's'presence' is given arid not how manyships occupy a star hex. They alsohave not examined the laws of probabil­ity as well as they should.

You have the ideal scout in the ESCtraveling solo. ESC's can explore starsystems with the option of holding themfrom other players I development. anoption denied the unarmed Scout (SCT),and can scout opponents defenses ableto strike immediately at weak spots. AnSCT can only relay information ofpromising conquests back to base andwait for warships. The delay oftenallows the defender time to reinforcehis discovered outpost before the attackforce can arrive. The ESC posing 'asscout also eliminates the possibility ofExploration Risk (rule 4.2.1) and there­fore saves you from wasting IU's ondestroyed scouts. The SCT probinganother player's defenses has somethinglikd a 2/3's chance of being destroyedas opposed to a 10% to 33% chance forthe ESC.

The ESC can play the role of convoyduty to Colony Transports (CT) as well,

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here again eliITlinating undue risk.Sure, the A TK or D readnaught (DN) cando this, but, let's face it, hardly anyplayers delegate theITl to such a task.Yet it is a task which has to be done.

Another ESC advantage is it's by farthe cheapest vehicle space. on a per­forITlance to price ratio. The ESC costis 8IU, the ATK is 20IU. Taking re­search cost into account your first ATKcosts 55IU, a considerable SUITl. Thestandard argueITlent against this goessomething like, "an ATK has twice thedestructive potential of an ESC, twopossible die rolls for hits cOITlpared toone, which justifies the extra expend­iture." But, does an ATK really havetwice the potential? Definitely not!Even if they were right the ATK has alot more than twice the destructivepotential because you have two die rollsout of six, cOITlpared to three out of 36for the ESC, to score a destructive hit.

Outwardly it is true your Player DataSheet says as ITluch, but fortunatelyStellar Conquest was designed to let youread between the lines. A two out of sixchance for the ATK is a 1/3 probabilitycompared to a 1/12 probability for asingle ESC. Notice I said single ESC.At a 20 IU cost you can build 2.5 ESC's(rounded to three) to one ATK. Thereforeyour true probability would be 3 x 1/12or 1/4.

Further, the saITle numh er rolled withtwo dice is never rolled twice and yourmost frequently rolled nUITlbers are 6,7,8 (greatest probability). A .fleet of threeESC's, which cost the same as one ATK~ research cost included, will havethree chances of destroying the ATKwhile the ATK has only one chance ofdestroying one of the ESC's.

It is a fact that for every roll up untilyour third or fourth roll your probabilityof rolling your desired number increasesup to 20/0, less afterwards. Thus, itfollows that the greater nUITlber of shipsone has the greater your chances ofscoring a hit, no matter how powerfulthe ships in question may be. For ex­ample: the first roll of your ESC's is asix, a miss. Now subtract the possibilityof getting a six, five rolls, from 36,total nUITlber of combinations with twodice. This leaves a remainder of 31. Nowdivide 31 by 3, the possibility of getting atenlrollsof6-4, 4-6,5-5), togetaresult of .0967, or 9.670/0. 9.67 is thenew percentage of getting a ten on yoursecond roll. The possibility on the thirdroll will be about 11.50/0. Mathematically,

this follow s:8.3340/0 (initial 1/12 probability)

+9. 67 % (initial roll subtracted fromtotal rolls divided by threeconverted to a percent)

+ ll. 500/0 (third probability)

29.5040/0 (total probability of one of thethree ESC's hitting the ATK)

Note this is only 3.830/0 less than the1/3 probability of an A TK hitting an ESC.This ITleans that the ATK has 1/4 of onenumber more chance of hitting the ESC,a ridiculously small amount. And nowstart figuring how many more ESC's youcould buy with the 35IU ATK researchcost. 0 r ITlaybe how ITlany extra IU' syou could buy? Either way the percent­iles speak for themselves.

In conclusion, the ESC possesses alast quality over the ATK. They do makebetter ships for conducting raids-:THoldon you iITlpatient types and reserve yourjudgement of ITly sanity until I explain.If you're still not satisfied •.•• )

It is true that an ATK can destroy 3million in population per turn after it haseliITlinated a planet's defenses. But don 'tforget that you get three ESC's for oneATK and each of those ESC's is capableof destroying one million in population.Total destruction possible is thereforethe same. With the ATK raiding, thedefender only has to roll the correctnumber once for the A TK to be destroy­ed and the attack defeated. With aSquadron of ESC's, the defender has toroll the correct number three tiITles!The attacker also has the option to breakoff the engageITlent or continue it, dependdepending on his loses in proportion tothe defender's. Because of the greatermobility of three ships over one, theattacker can remain in the star systemuntil the defender is forced to divertreinforceITlents to the scene. In mostcases, the attacker will still have enoughfirepower left over to run and raid thevery systems where the reinforcementscame from! Strategically done, thesehit and run warfare tactics can be dev­astating and render the victim a minorfactor for the rest of the game. So, whynot the Escort? All things considered,many otherwise outstanding players aretaken in by the Escort illusion.

Edward C. Cooper

TWO VIEWS OF THE FUTURE,STELLAR CONQUEST and STARFORCE

STELLAR CONQUEST (hereafter re­ferred to as SC) and STARFORCE (SF)both approach the idea of a far flungstellar society froITl quite different viewpoints. The differences lie not only ingame ITlechanics but in the underlyingphilosophical assuITlptions without whichthe games would be nothing ITlore thanpieces of cardboard to ITlove lifelesslyabout a flat playing surface.

Before we exaITline the philosophies,let us take a look at the ITlore visiblephysical structures and rules of thegaITles. Both gaITles are quite well de­signed physically and operate undercomplex but logical rules.

SC and SF both have very visually ap­pealing gaITle cOITlponents. In fact, Ipersonally think the two gaITles are tied,in that respect, for best in the entiregaITle field. SC' s ITlap shows a "simu­lated IBO type open galactic star clus­ter" while SF's main ITlap is one of "74star systeITls in a three-diITlensional'sphere' of space." All scientific jar­gon aside, the ITlaps are eyecatchers.

SC's playing surface is a riot ofbright and colorful stars scattered ontoa thin, plastic sheet. SF's gameboardreseITlbles nothing so much as the deep,purple blackness of space itself, speck­led with the barest hints of star sys­temso

Both of these well designed ITlapshave the conventional hex grid superiITl­posed upon them. SF's hexes, calledlight-zulus, represent volumes ofspace one light year across. SC'shexes are planar distances of an Eighthof a light-year. Here we have the firsthint that the designers of these twogaITles had two entirely different objec­tives in ITlind.

The SF player ITlust relearn how tolook at a ITlap. in this case the ITlap isnot the cOITlplete territory, not by along shot. The flat, SF ITlap is reallya sphere and must be visualized as sudwithin the players' minds. Every hexon the ITlap has a set number of otherhexes (light-zulus) either above or be­low it. Take the innocent hex numberec1214, for example. The hex, as pic­tured on the map, is 1214/0. Light­Zulu 1214/7 is seven light-years abovethe ITlap's surface and Light-Zulu 1214/-7 would be sevep light-years below.That particular Light-Zulu is in an

area of the sphere which could be eithernineteen hexes below or above the map.

sels hexes are more conventional,and represent simple planar distancebetween the gamels star systerns o

However, the gaITles are attemptingtwo different siITlulations. For SF tohave used SC' S conventional hexeswould have been terrible. Had SC'sde­signers tried to turn their own ITlap in­to a "sphere" then the gaITle would havewound up being unplayable.

SF is designed for the budding Star­Fleet Admiral (or telesthetic, but ITloreabout that later). Metagaming's SC isdesigned to appeal to the Galactic Em­peror within us all.

Most STARFORCE is very tactical innature. Even though the counters re- .present aggregations of StarShips, inmost scenarios they move as one ship.The objectives are very basic, thoughcOITlplex in fulfillment. Each player at­teITlpts to engage the other in combatand capture the opponent's star systemsSF would have been dull if a player hasbeen asked solely to move his StarForoesalong a hexagonal grid towards theirobjectives. By having to plot a three­dimensional course through a ITlentallyvisualized sphere of space, the playergets a feeling unlike anything offered byan other game. When you play STAR­FORCE, you are as close to actuallyastrogating a StarShip through space asanyone, this poor century, is likely tocorne.

The SC player, however, has muchmore to worry about than the SF player.In STELLAR CONQUEST, you are at­teITlpting to explore new star systems,to develop previously explored ones, todevelop technological capabilities with­in your Empire, to build ships and de­fenses even while you are thinking a­bout maybe invading an opponent'sworlds and, at the saITle time, worryingif he is going to invade you! If, in ad­dition to all that, you would have to .worry about plotting a course through avisualized sphere you would probably gospace-happy, to borrow a term fl;omTOITl Corbett. This too, is realisticconsidering the iITlplied status of theplayer as leader of a I;lUdding EITlpire.It is unlikely- that Alexander the GreatITlapped out every single sITlall unit inall action in all of his arITlies. No, inSTELLAR CONQUEST you would notwant to have SOITle of the tactical de­tails that are in STARFORCE. Likewise

7

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players of STARFORCE have their hand,full with tactics and could hardly hopeto also have the depth of society-realismthat is present in SC.

And, now, this brings us to our basicphilosophical difference between thegameso

I nave already used the word "combat'in relation to the action in STARFORCE.Now, there is a lot of fighting that goeson in a typical scenario, but it is notcombat as most game players would de­fine that term. For one thing, no oneis ever killed and nothing is destroyed.

Redmond Simonsen, STARFORCE'sdesigner, has postulated a Twenty­Fifth Century society of star-goersbased on the mental powers of what heterms "telesthetics." A telesthetic hasthe ability to open a "discontinuity win­dow" by the power of her mind coupledwith that of an intelligent machine racereferred to as Gnostechs. This dis­continuity window is what most peopletoday would call teleportation. Simplyput, a telesthetic ( or telesthetics act­ing in unison) is the motive power of aStar Ship

Thus, in STARFORCE, Einstein is,at most, a fond memory. The Star­Forces do not travel through space, butjump in and out of the game's Light­Zulus. Thus, they are able to covervast distances at a single" shift."

The telesthetics, however, are alsoempathic towards each other. "Everyman's death diminishes me ll and 11Ask

not far whom the bell tolls, it tolls forthee" are not empty poetic sayings to atelesthetic but simple, heart rendingreality. Should a telesthetic kill ano­ther, it wo~d be almost like suicide.

When' two StarForces meet, the tele .....thetics aboard broadcast mental ener­gies at each other. The loser in thiscontest literally is put to sleep. lf theydo not recover in time, the opposingtelesthetics may randomize their shipand throw it through a discontinuity win­dow half way across the sphere of knONIlspaeeo

Then, once the opposing StarForcesare wiped out, or thrown away, the in­vader fights the star system's protec­t,ive StarGate (which might also havebeen fighting alongside the defendingStarForces.) A board the Gate aremore telesthetics, enough that it takesa superiority of at least three Star­Forces to attack a Gate with any truehope of victory. Once the invaders

have telesthetically put the Gate asleep,the world below is open for occupation.

At no time are StarForces destroyed,nor are telesthetics killed (but for onescenario which involves a vicious xeno­phobic race from beyond the sphere).All the systems and races (there arethree; human, L'chal-dah and Rame) aredependent on their own telesthetics fortransportation, and the telesthetics saythat killing is a no-no. Should they beordered to kill, they would simply re­fuse.

Most of the scenarios are not actuallywars, not as we think of them today.These Twenty-Fifth century societiesdo not fight for space nor out of irra­tional hatreds. They fight basically todecide oppo.sing theories of government.I have the impression that, if death werelikely in their wars, there would havebeen (be?) less scenarios to play. Warsdivorced from death, made bloodlessalthough still monetarily expensive, seEnlseem to take less of a reason to becomerrlotivatedo

STELLAR CONQUEST, on the otherhand, seems more like the world today.N ow this is not to say whether that isbad or good. It is simply that inSTELLAR CONQUEST, things are hap­pening for more immediately compr e­hensible reasons. Some players willsay this is good, others not. Herein, Ithink, you have a basic schism withinScience Fiction circles. Some people inScience Fiction feel that extrapolationmust be very tightly organized from thebase of today's society. Others feelthat the only good Science Fiction liftsthe reader into wholly new and strangerealms. I'll save my own opinion for afew paragraphs in order to further des­scribe STELLAR CONQUEST.

The SC player is presented with an en­tirely different playing milleau from theSF player. In STELLAR CONQUEST,laid out beautifully before you, beckon­ing you onward, is an entire unexploredcluster of stars. Is the star ahead ofyou hiding a planetary paradise, or aheavy mineral hell-hole? There's onlyone way to find out, to send your scoutsahead. Once you have found suitableworlds, or before if you want to risk it,you give your Colony Transports theirorders as to what star to head for.

You set up your first colonies and youbegin to develop them like mad, all thetime continuing to explore the otherstars in the cluster. You can use the

Industrial output of each colony for amyriad of things; you may build ships,more factories, or contribute to yourEmpire's technological research. You,leader of your Empire, have to weigheach decision carefully.

lf you expand too fa st, and neglect todo your technological research you will,very likely, be dooming yourself to ear­ly extinction as your opponent sooner orlater will swoop down on you with shipsthe like of which your primitive tech­nology can only gasp at. Likewise, ifall you do is technological research, bythe end of the game you will have anEmpire of genius with only a few Terran­type worlds to your credit and the dumm}on the other side of the board will walkoff with the honors.

Slowly, carefully, the experiencedStellar Conqueror will expand thissphere of influence star by star. Allthe time, he will build his technologicalcapability and prepare himself for ag­gression or defense, whatever he deemsto be best. Perhaps, instead of doingthe research enabling you to buildDreadnaught class ships, you had betterput those research funds into figuringhow to build a missile base. Maybe,rather than buying that Dreadnaught youhad your heart set on, you should pur­chase a Colony Transport vessel and em­igrate a few thousand colonists fromtheir homeworld to that new, green pla­net circling that newly explored G-Classstar.

Meanwhile, your evil opponent ismaking his own untrustworthy Empire'splans.

In STELLAR CONQUEST, the playersare locked into a limited cluster of stars.The winner is simply the one who, by theend of the game, has been able to main­tain control over the most number ofTerran and Sub-Terran planets. Theselimited resources lead to war, real andbloody war.

When two opposing Empires meet, theymeet in a way that would be familiar toPatton, or Caesar, Napoleon or Rommel.They fight, and they fight to the death.Nothing better emphasizes the under­lying differences between STARFORCEand STELLAR CONQUEST than the fol­lowing short quote from the STELLA RCONQUEST rules pamphlet:

"The Conqueror may destroy the pop­ulation and Industrial Units of a con­quered colony/on a one to one basiso •.during the Planetary Attack step. Each

type of warship••• may destroy on thefollowing basis:

For each Escort, I million popula­tion and I IU.

For each Attack ~, 3 millionpopulation and 3 IU.

For each Dreadnaught, 5 millionpopulation and 5 IU. "

In STELLAR CONQUEST we have amore recognizable form of warfare ..People die, whole cultures may be des­troyed.

I am sure that many players, at thispoint, are now trying to decide whichgame simulation is 'better, ' the cleancombat of STARFORCE or the moreusual destructiveness found in STELLARCONQUEST. I submit that neither oneis 'better' than the other, not in thisregard.

As mentioned earlier, there are twosides in a controversy now going on inthe Science Fiction genre. One sidewants to see clean and neat extrapola­tions and recognizable societies basedon today's premises, such as STELLARCONQUEST. Another group feels thatScience Fictio~ should show somethingyou have never seen before, make youthink of something entirely new, asSTARFORCE does, or the trip is notworthwhile.

Hogwash, or worse. The only way,in my mind, to judge a science fictionstory or, as in this case, a game, issimply whether it succeeds or not with­in its own self-contained prernisesoBoth these games are successes, in mybook.

STELLAR CONQUEST does an abso­lutely beautiful job of transfer ring to­day's fallible humans to the stars.STARFORCE does an equally good jobof creating what I think of as a 'new'kind of human and placing that 'new'being into a galactic framework.

So, I do not think you can judge thesetwo games by comparing their under­lying" stories" and asking which is thebetter, for they both hang together quitewell within their own standards.

Perhaps, however, they will appeal totwo different types of people. I wouldhope that this would not be true. Afterall, they are but simulations of eventsthat have not happened and so I do notthink they should be judged by presentattitudes toward such things as war,violence, etco

I know that I am able to play and en­joy them both equally. A s to which game

9

i

10

game I will play when, it depends on mymood. Should I want to feel like Cap­tain Shapiro directing an armada ofships through the hostile reaches ofspace then I'll pull out STARFORCE.If I should feel like being Lord Neil ofGames, master and leader of an entirerace, 'then STELLAR CONQUEST willbe the game of the day.

If you like Science Fiction, if you likegaming, you need both of these games.•••• so order now and have yourself afew megacenturies of fun.

Neil ShapiroJackson Hts., N.Y.

*NOTICE••• NOTICE*

CONTRIBUTORS: Some of you havealready been informed that we got mixedup in our compensation policy statedlast issue. We had evaluated <l lI2?cash or I? purchase credit per word op­tion vs. a I? cash or ], ,? per word credit.Since our tiny budget will have to bebuying 20-30,000 words per issue bymid 1976, it made the 1/2? cash or I?per word credit the only choice. Havingthen made the right decision we thenblithely (and erroneously) transcribedl? and 2? rates in TSG #2 in an attack of

confusion.So, it's 1/2? per word cashor~

word purchase credit for publishedcontributions. If this isn't acceptableand anyone wants his article back, we'llsend it (a postcard is sufficient). If wedon't hear from you, we'll assume youstill wish us to consider your materialfor publication. We pay upon publication

lGNORING EINSTEIN AND NEWTONOR

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH AN H-BOMB"

One of the problems of many SF war­games is that the designers are eitherignorant of, or forced to ignore, thelaws of nature and the potentialities ofmodern weapons.

For example, JagdPanther Publicationputs out a game called THE RIGELLlANWARS. All the game is is a land war­game system set in space. Movement isso ITlany hexes per turn--no mention ofmomentum at all. T here are zone 5 ofcontrol, fixed planets (as if they werecities), and star systems so close it islaughable.

Although RIGELLlAN WARS is admit­tedly at the far end of the scale, thereare other games which screw up realityjust as badly. LENSMAN's tactical sec­tion in the tournament game (where spaCEships fight llinere' __ i. e., using normalphysical rules) has no rules for momen­tum or the effects of gravity, but it doeshave (poor) rules for planetary motion.TRlPLANETARY, the best tactical boardgame around, has momentum and gravity.Unfo'rtunately, the planets stay wherethey are. A s a game can last for months(game time, not real time) this can pro­duce a quite unrealistic situation. Afterall, in three months the Earth moves onefourth of its way in its orbit around thesun. Furthermore, as TRlPLANETARYtrie-s to reproduce the technology and thesolar system of the old Heinlein novels,you get further unrealistic situations(bases on .Venus?). And the gravita­tional system, while good, doesn't allowthe use of Hohmann orbits (though this isalso due to the lack of planetary motion).

Another problem is the "blazer syn­drome" where designers feel that, sincethey're doing a SF game, they ought touse wild weapons. So you get all sorts oftrash like Magma beams, Photon torpe­does, Para sonars, Koz Gyrojet Pistols,and Gapper Zappers. What in blazes iswrong with a nuke? A 20-megaton war­head could kill any astronauts in an un­shielded spacecraft within a sphere some600 miles in diameter. Lead" storm­cellars" and force fields designed by thedeveloping science of Magnetohydrody­namics (MHD) will reduce this numbersomewhat, but nukes still show them­selves to be very effective. Further­more, it isn't ea sy to find thing s outthere, either. To track a one meter

square object about 10,000-50,000 milesout requires several radar stations,each requiring ten to twenty times thepower output of the Grand Coulee Dam!Optical and infrared detection is evenmore hopeless than radar. Space isHUGE and ships are small specks in it.No board game can really give you thefeeling of immensity needed for true

realism.In any case, using extrapolations of

modern technology can give you just asgood a game as using shields and phasers"Combat become s a deadly game of hide­and-seek with radar, optics, and infra­red devices trying to get past your ca­moflage and Electronic Counter Measure(ECM) to hit you with the sledgehammerblow of a nuke. This situation, not un­like that of submarine hunting, can be avery tense and exciting one. A goodsource book for this type of tacticalsimulaltion is Robert Sakeld's War and

Space.Finally, have you noticed that almost

all SF games have Faster than Light(FTL) spaceships or some way to getthem from one star to another quickly?While I would like to see FTL ships in­vented (preferably within my lifetime),there are few, if any, indications thatthey are possible (see Poul Anderson'sarticle in the September, 1975 Galaxyfor some interesting inforITlation aboutstar travel). So",by not design a gamearound STL spaceships?

Consider the possibilities. You havea g arne like SC, except that you'll need amoderator. In fact, it would be a goodPBM type of computer game. Eachplayer could start in a colonized system.The only knowledge you have of other sys­tems is their radio messages, a yearlycompendium of local events sent over thedistances of space. Your informationwill be years, if not decades, old as theradio waves can move at only 300,000kilometers a second. Then the modera­t",r picks randomly, without informingany of the others, who is to be theaggressor. He falsifies his messages(though previous messages may give o­ther players a hint of who he is) whilebuilding a warfleet of Bussard ramjets(which are fusion-propelled ships whichuse interstellar gas particles for fuel).He tries to attack secretly though thetrail left by a ramship fleet may give himaway to the defe;'der's astronomers. Ifhe succeeds, he'll ship back resources bylaser-assisted photon lightsail, or

11

convert them to a new religion, or what­ever he desires. Meanwhile, the otherplayer s may decide to arm and aid thestricken defender. Variants may haverefugees from one system try to findsomeplace else to take over, only to bepursued by the homesystem winners,who don't want to be attacked a centurylater by the same dudes who skipped outnow. Lengthened lifespan, the effectsof relativity, the difficulty of gettingpeople to man your fleet, and new de­velopments in science can all take apart. You know, it sounds so good I'llhave to do it myself.

T he point of all this is that you canmake quite effective games withouthaving to use ridiculous weapons andlittle known (i. e., undiscovered) laws ofnature. Furthermore, the effort you putinto increasing the realism of a gamewill prove to be effort well spent.Newton and Einstein can he a great helpto a designer if he'll cooperate••

Scott Rusch

•• NOTE TO GAME REVIEWERS••

A game review submitted to THESPACE GAMER should include:

*address for ordering~price

*designer (if available)*list of components, including whether

boxed or not and whether countersare mounted and lor die-cut

*short paragraph giving brief overviewof what the game simulates and howit plays

A side from the above items, you areon your own reactions. It helps potentialbuyers if you relate the games weakpoints as well as strong points. We dopublish multiple reviews on games, sodon't be afraid to call a weak game forexactly what it is. Just remember thateven the worst games are likely to havegood features or innovations. A gamemay not be worth a $12 price, but have in­terest and utility for many piayers at a$6 price.

12

LETTERS

The combination of science-fiction andgaming shDuld prDve irresistible tD any­Dne like myself whD has been a devDtedaddict tD bDth fDr years. That the re­sults have been hithertD barren may bean inescapable fact resulting frDm thefollowing dilemma: either the future willbe like the past (in which case why playSF games, since ordinary games willhave the same action?) or it will be ra­dically different (in which case the ima­ginative f cDmprehen sion difficultie swillbe formidable). A second, related prob­lem is player interest: "many peopleplay one type of wargame or other be­cause they are interested in the histo ri­cal period it represents. The SF gamedesigner must work up his l1historicalsetting lt from scratch, and all too oItenthis aspect is weak and unconvincing,particularly because an inadequate linkfrom the present to the future is provided(how did we get from HERE t6 THEREanyway?). The result is a phenomenonMr. Bjorke noted in Issue #2 of TSG:just as there is an inferiDr brand ofscience fiction called Iispaceoperalt be­cause it is only a cosmetic representation of some familia r reality, so arethere far too many II space opera gaInes. 11

SPI's STARFORCE: ALPHA CENTAURIis a benchmark example of what I wouldcall a successful SF gamec A concise,credible future representation is appen­ded to the game, and the 3-D mDvementsysteITl captures the l1 vast reaches '! ofspace. SC, on the other hand, fa Us intDa class of games modelled on a resourceexplDitatiDn theme (which invDlves thegeneral objectiDn that a sDciety whichcould eVDlve spaceflight technDlogy wDuldhave mastered the 11£usion torch!' tech­nique of recycling materials, and there­fore would have no need for resource ex­plDitation). A s a sample of the class, itis first rate in concept and execution,with the technolDgical R&D forming afascinating backbDne for speculatiDn, On­ly one question: what is the output valueDf a RIU, besides its capability tD func­tion Dn nDn- T R planets?

SD I like your magazine, and I likeyour game. Additional things I wouldlike to see: more hard extrapolativearticles on the relatiDnship of the pre-s ent and future cDmbat; games Dn Halde­man's THE FOREVER WAR, Blish'sCITIES IN Ft-IGHT, DicksDn's TACTICSOF MISTAKE, and AsimDv's

FOUNDATION TRILOGY, just tD name afew. I would like tD see les s Df fantasygames and articles. WithDut dispute tDmerits or definitions~ I like SF and donDt like Fantasy, and the latter is al­ready prDvided with hDuse journals.

A s a parting shDt: cDnsider this: are spected (and fascinating) branch Df SFis alternate histDry; anYDne participatingin a conventional simulation wargame istherefore working with alternate history,and thereby SF.

JDhn Howard OxleyHalifax, N ova Scotia

~}:.**********

••• a few comments on DUNGEONSAND DRAGON S. I really feel that for aprDfessiDnal game publication, the rulesare really badly Drganized. A few sim­ple indexes would do wDnders. The partof the rules dealing with combat arejust impDssible tD understand; apparentlythey assume that YDU are familiar withthe system already. A few wDrked DUtexamples wDuld prDbably clarify every­thing. I think that there is a lessDn inthis fDr all game designers, if YDU wantto make sure that your rules are under­standable, include worked Dut examples.

William B. BrogdenPort Aransas, TX

***********

We've been playing STELLAR CON­QUEST which I cDnsider tD be Dne Df thebest game investITlents live ever made.

A note of intet"est you may want tD re­search or pass on to your readersc WefDund that after game turn 28, the gamebecame somewhat confined- -everyonehad PFS everywhere wDrth having. AlsD,our prDductiDn was far Dutstripping ourneeds, Therefore, we develDped level 4technDIDgy. One must have attained level3 in all three fields to be eligible. OnlyRIU's may be spent Dn the re.earch.Items available:

A. PFS OverlDad: 600 RIUAllDws a task force Df 20 DN to simul­taneously attack a PFS. Task fDrce isIDst in tDtD, but a roll Df 1 Dn the die im­plodes the PFS. The implDsiDn destrDYsthe planet fDr the remainder of the game,tDgether with everything the DppDnent had

on itcB, TF (Terra forming): 500 RIU

AllDws ST and MT planets to terraforminto TR. All ST must be completed

before any MT may be. Cost per planetis its entire industrial output for oneproductiDn year (minimum 120 IU fRIUfDr each step upgraded. (Eg. an MT canbecDme ST Dne prDductiDn year, and TRthe follDwing prDductiDn year.)

The se capabilities allDw one tD over­come, somewhat, the liluck of the draw 11We like it, so I'm passing it alDng incase Dther s might also.

Larry H. HesterSeattle, WA

;}:.****~}:.**::':~**

Please send me a subscriptiDn to TSG.I feel YDU peDple have the right editorialconcept and one particularly wise in nottrying to Dut S&T with a game in eachissue, etcc, but rather filling in part areporter role in SF gaming. The con­tent will have to improve {ic ec a sm.allelpercentage of letters and larger amountDf thDughtful, infDrmative articles} ifthe magazine is to succeed or I am toreview next yearc However you do showpromise.

Mark N. LardasAnn Arbor, MI

Issue #2 is gDDd. And the fact thatYDU had sufficient subscriptiDns tDwar rant publication .shows that there areenDugh peDple interested in SF tD sup-pD rt a zine devDted to what is sometimesthought of as a fringe Df wargaming.Actually SF gaming is prDbably the fieldmost suited to development as there areinfinite variatiDns possible limited onlyto the imaginatiDn, CDntempDraryandhistorical games have covered almDstall periDds and cDnflicts with the majorvariations being those of game mecha­nics, SF has thDusands of possible com·binations for new conflicts in novels andstories already written and much moreconsidering new stories and authorsappear all the time. The Dnly area inSF which hasn't been developed as wella s it could is the tactical level combatsuch as that seen in Starship TroDpersby Robert Heinlein or Under the Ham=by David Drake. RumDr has it that AHhas bought the title rights for StarshipT rDopers but until there is a gamefrom they by that title it is Dnly rumor.But I fo r one will buy the game if itCDmes out for reaSDns Df tp.e title alDne.

In Steve CDle's letter in issue #2 he

13

shows a scale in which games are ratedby cDmparing price and game playingtimec Since in some cases games listedin the survey dDn't have game lengthsin hours perhaps it's more appropriatethat the games be cDnsidered by theoverall rating and price instead sincethe enjDyment Df the game (and therefDrethe value Df the game) rests mDre DnhDw much the pIa ye r like s it than on hDwIDng he plays it (or struggles thrDugh itas the case may be).

In this way STARFORCE becDmes .8pDints per dollar while TRIPLANETARYbecDmes 1. point per dDllar. SC shows.9 and RIGELLIAN WARS (last Dn thelist for popularity) shDws .87.

But this Dnly serves to jumble up thesurvey even more and shows also thatthe price Df the game is irrelevant.One can shuffle the columns in any man­ner which suits him. AlsD, DUNGEONSAND DRAGONS CDStS $10.00 and thatperhaps is Dne of the better sellinggan"le s aroundc

SD by far the mDst impDrtant item Dnthe survey is the game 'pDpularity as itshDws hDw mu"ch the people rating it en­jDyed the hours they spent playing it.Just because a game is IDnger dDesn'tnecessarily mean it is better in muchthe same way that it is nDt necessarilybetter because it doesn It cost as muchcI'd guess that a persDn expects a gamethat costs more tD be better but eventhat flops sDmetimes (when you cDnsiderSTARFORCE, for example). Anywaythe whole pDint Df a survey is tD see hDwmuch raters like a game. STELLARCONQUEST is a gDod game and peoplelike it. It fDllows through that RIGEL­LIAN WARS isn't a good game becausepeDple don't like it enDugh tD rate it high(this is also borne out by reviews of thisgame: reviewers don't like it either).

But here's to wishing you well andcontinued success at TSG and YDurgames line, as it seems you are doingwell and are enjDying it in the prDcess,

Rick PavekSF Section EditorPursue and DestrDY Magazine

**********':<

Nice gDing Thompson, issue #2 turned

m.e one c c

One thing I can't seem tD understand ishDw some of YDur readers and readers ofThe General can have SD many games.When I was playing regularly I never gDt

14 15

TSG #2 FEEDBACK

Galaxy II, from Brett Tondreau,5536 Kester Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91411.

Brett reports his major rewrite ofthe Galaxy II computer program aboutfinished. New games should be able tobegin in the near future. Rules are $2first class, $1. 90 third class. Intro­ductory notes are 35~ including a sampleprint-out from a game. Cost per turnvaries according to how much you do.$1 is average, but 50~ to $3 is a realisticrange. This is the most detailed compu­ter game available we know of.

7.337.066.786.226.206.005.825.815.775.635.326.91

37/130/326/228/1018/420/711/ 611/713/97/77/13

27/2

8&11 1,2,3Votes /Votes

Over a hundred feedback forms fromis sue #2 were received. Since that l sless than half of the number we receivedfor issue #1, we decided our readersdon't like the form bound in the maga­zine. So, each issue will have a sepa­rate feedback and order form. We'realso going to drop r·.. ting the FeedbackResults, Wantads , and Game Ratings.These are service items, not entertain­ment, and it rea.lly doesn't matter howthey rate. It'd make as much sense torate the grade of paper or the foldingand stapling. Thanks for your feedback.We can't go wrong with your king of help.

Item

News/PlugsSC UpdateWhere We're GoingTannishD&D, PudewaD&D: WaddellGame RatesEditorialLettersFeedbackWantadsOver-all

now ..

Kelly Moorman, Box 7235, Monroe,LA 71201 offers to moderate StellarConquest by mail.

Kelly has several games going nowand kindly sent the first six issues ofhis 'rag' Interstellar News which hasnews and messages on his gaITles andSC. A sample is 15~ and a SASE willprobably get you info on his rates. Itlooks like IN will develop into somethingof interest to SC fans in general judgingby the Edward Cooper article they ranand let us reprint. The play possibilitiesof SC are far from exhausted and an SCzine is sure to find that out fast.

Mark Leymaster, Box 2569, Boston,MA 02208.

Mark has a computer generatedcharacter list for use with Dungeons &Dragons or Tunnels and Trolls. A ran­domly generated list of 10 charactersgoes for $1 or custom characters atdouble the rate. A self-addressed,stamped envelope will get you some infoand he invites correspondence ..

The Battle of Five Armies, by LarrySmith, $4.50 from JMJ Enterprises,7750 Margerum Ave #215, San Diego,CA 92120.

This is another game game based onmaterial in the Lord of the Rings books.A review is carried in this issue.

Lou Zocchi, 1513 Newton Dr., Biloxi,MS. Lou sells almost every wargame,s -f included, in print and puts out acatalog you can get by request. It makesan excellent refer~nce source and aconvenient one stop shopping place. Youmay have to wait awhile for it to arrivebecause they go bulk but it's worth it.

Third Millenia Inc. , Last issue wereported that to the best of our knowledg.TMI was defunct. Since then we havefound out that retailer are still havingorders filled. We still don't have anyhard info but apparently there is .stillsome activity. Their games are stillavailable from Lou Zocchi.

Pursue and Destroy, six issue sub$7.50 from First Echelon Publications,Box 6113, Ft. Bliss, TX 79906.

This is a newer wargaming ITlagazinethat will also cover some s-f. Issue #5for December will be an all s-f issue.They are offering a B&W reproductionof the cover for $1.50 and it's available

SF GAMING NEWS/PLUGS

Sorcerer, $9 boxed from SPI, 44 East23rd st., NY, NY 10010.

This is billed as the game of magicalconflict and can be played solitaire oris multi-player. With a multi-coloredmap for various magical inter relationsand 400 counters SPI is clearly out toestablish a place in the growing Fantasygames market. Reviews?

Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age, byLin Carter and Scott Bizar. $6 fromFantasy Games Unlimited, Box 182,Roslyn, NY 11576.

This is a 64 page 8 1/2 x 11 booklet ofwargame rules for the Robert E. HowardConan stories. Also included are a datasheet for reference and a simple map ofthe Hyborean world. The rules are forminiatures play and seem well organizedand detailed. They even include sourcesfor appropriate figurines. Someone intominiatures is welcome to do a review.

The Spartan #9, $3, a four issue sub is$9, from Spartan, Box 1017, Bellflower,CA 90706.

Issue #9 is worth alentian because itcontains Warlock, a 32 page elaborationof Dungeons & Dragons. That's a lot at8 1/2 x 11 pages. They suggest you needD &D rules to get the most from theirexpansion.

Creative Computing--May/June '75,$1. 50 from ·Box 789, Morristown, NJ07960.

This issue contains some computergames of interest like Super Star Trek,ICBM, and Lunar. If you're into comput­er gaming this might be a good issue tosample to see if you want a one year,six is sue sub for $8.

Diplomacy World, $4 for a four issuesub from Walter Buchanan, RR #3 Box324, Lebanon, IN 46Q:;2.

This is the leading publication ofinterest for Diplomacy gamers. Heavyemphasis is on the well developed PBMDiplomacy activities.

(The news section is a regular feature ofTSG. We will print items on conventions,clubs, services (like PBM game moder­ating), or products that may be of inter­est to our readers. For best results youcan prepare your own item with allessential details. Brevity helps.)

(Subscribers may place ads of 25 wordsor less for one issue for 500

WANTADS

I would like to contact anyone interestedin playing STELLAR CONQUEST in theAnn Arbor, Ml area. Jim DeCook,2877 Bellwood, Ann Arbor, MI48104.

Bob O'LearyHyde Park, NY

***********

Wanted: SpacegaITlers, wargan1.ers,Diplomacy players in Ventura Countyget in touch. Mark Armstrong,931 Camellia St., Oxnard, CA 93030,(805)485-7703.

through the situations. We'd keep play­ing a given situation over and over untilwe evolved the optimum strategy. Andthen when The General introduced 12more situations I was sure lid neverreally run out of situations if new oneskeep being introduced. But now that my'pal has moved I've been having a greatdeal of difficulty really interes­ting mildly interested friends in learningthese games. My next step is to buy awhole new game that these friends and Ican learn together.

With so many SF wargames showingup (i. e. Lou Zocchi, A-H, TSR) onecan't help but wonder at their quality andtherefore I feel the game ratings are ofvalue but 11 out of 13 getting an overallrating of 6 plus makes me again wonderabout the objectivity of those responding.Ideally it should be (but can't work) amatrix evaluation of the relative value ofeach to each other. By the way, basenumbers of respondents would helpgreatly in evaluating the ratings.

I wonder how much you appreciateFreas' cover. Honest I don't think Iwould have opened TSG if it wasn't forthe cover! You can't judge .•• but acover does create interest ..

STELLAR CONQUEST Tournament andMatch Game Rating Service--For infor­mation, send $1. 00 and SSAE to LayoutDesign Specialists, P.O. Box 485,Glenview, Illinois 66025.

16

TUNNELS AND TROLLS: AREVIEW OF SORTS

There is so much to say about thisgame that I hardly know where to start.It is true that TUNNELS AND TROLLSwas inspired by DUNGEONS ANDDRAGONS, and resembled the earliergame in many ways, but it also differsimportantly in both conception and play­ing style. In many ways T&T is a sim­pler game. It is certainly not as statis­tically rigorous in its treatment of char­acters and situations as D&D. (Examplearmor in T&T has a given weight anddoes not depend on a character l s size orbody weight.) T&T utilizes ordinary 6­sided dice for everything, studiously anddeliberately avoiding complications like20 - sided, 12 - sided, and tetrahed ral i­vories. As a game, T&T takes itselfless seriously, and thereby tends tomove along more quickly than D&D.T&T also draws more heavily on theimagination of the players and a littleless on the genius of the Dungeon Masterto make the game work. There areseveral major differences between thetwo games, and I want to briefly mentionsome of them in the remainder of thisreview.

1. There is no sexist bias in T&T.Female characters come out exactly ascreated by the dice- -not reduced in sizeand strength by an arbitrary fractionjust because they are female.

2. Character creation: In T &T onecreates ones characters the same as inD&D (by rolling 3 dice) but there areonly 6 major attributes: strength, intel­ligence, luck, constitution, dexterity,and charisma. Each of these attributesis very important to the character's a­bilit!es. For example, luck (which re­places wisdom) determines what acharacter's saving roll will be in anydangerous situation, and also whether ornot the character will be able to findhidden doors or objects without the useof magic. Intelligence (IQ) determinesthe number of languages a character canlearn, and how potent the magic he / shecan handle. Dexterity determines whe­ther or not one can use certain weapons

like the morning-star, and also how ac­curate one is with missile weapons, plusbeing an indicator of general clumsiness.Constitution determines how many hitscan take before being slain. And charis­ma is both an indicator of beauty andleadership. T&T characters are also of

slightly different types than D&D char­acters. Instead of having clerics, thereare rogues (modeled on the Gray Mouserand Cugel the Cleaver). Rogues havethe ability to both fight like a warriorand use spells like a magic-user. Butthey are limited in that they can neverrise beyond the 7th level, and they mustbe taught their spells by some well­disposed magician. Magicians are alsodifferent from their D&D counterpartsin that they know many mOre spells thana D&D magician and can use them re­peatedly, but in ordinary circumstancesthey cannot fight well; and they may ex­haust or even kill themselves by usingtoo much magic. Then there is a thirddifference in that T&T allows for awider range of possible character typesincluding men, elves, dwarves, hobbits,half-creatures (half-g iant, half-troll,half-orc, etc.) goblins, trolls, orcs,ogres, or were-creatures of your choice

3. Weapons and Conflict: D&D con­flict is a blow by blow description of thebattle. T&T conflict is (usually) a me­lee in which all the combatants do theirworst, dance around hacking and dodging,and then net the damage to one party orthe other is evaluated at a given moment(after the dice roll by both sides of thecombat). (Of course, there are manyexceptions to the melee style of combatwherein damage can be done to bothsides simultaneously, but the D.M. hasto set those situations up specially.)T&T fighters (and monsters) get a bonusin combat for such factors as excessstrength, luck, or dexterity, which maywell tip the battle one way or another.Generally, monsters are most powerfulon their first combat turn (1 game turnrepresenting 10 minutes of game timemay be subdivided into 5 combat turns(of possibly varying lengths of timethough assumed to average 2 minutes».Combat is a straight forward comparisonof numbers rolled (plus adds and modi­fying circumstances) wherein the personor party on the losing end of the com­parison takes the difference in hits. Itis not based on the probability of a blowscoring a hit and doing damage. Variousweapons (sword, crossbow, morning­star) are rated for different numbers ofdice and require different strengths anddexterities to use them successfully.T &T includes 6 pages of weapons tablesto allow characters to express their in­dividuality and also find the best weaponfor them, and the tables include some

rather unusual items such as bolas,blow-guns, and bagh-nakhs.

I could go on for many pages pointingout more differences between the twogames, but the format of the game in­structions really says it all. Dt\cD isvery professionally done, with threebooklets and a box, and it costs a smallfortune. T&T looks more like a goodfanzine. St. Andre takes a personal tonewith the reade r a S if explaining it toyour face. His explanations are not al­ways perfectly clear, but if you readcarefully and follow things step by step,understanding will come to you becauseyou will probably duplicate the originalthinking that led to the formation of sucha rule. Whoops, excuse me! St. Andreinsists that he doesn't give any rules-­just principles and guidelines to baseyour own thinking on. One of the bigprinciples of the whole thing is that D. M.decides what is right for his /her owndungeon.

I want to say a word about the art. Itis mostly by a Phoenix fan artist namedRob Carver, and it ranges from thegorgeous to the ridiculous --mostly thelatter. The cartoon to illustrate themagical spells are very droll, and theportrait of St. Andre captures his verysoul. The current (2d) edition also has afine front cover by Liz Danforth, afemme artist whose pen and ink style re­minds one of Aubrey Beardsley, AliciaAustin, or Cathy Hill. (If none of thosenames ring a bell with you, you I re not afantasy art fan.) She has also done theart for the supplement (just out fromFlying Buffalo for $1) and is doing art forKen's new variant--MONSTERS! MON­STERS! which game uses monsters forprotagonists and humans for foes. It'sperverse!

T &T has been sold from coast to coast,but is still most popular in Phoenix,whe re it ha s become the official game ofthe organized SF club there. It is veryplayable, and a lot of fun- -great forstretching the old imagination. I recom­mend it for fantasy fans who are notpurists, and who do not necessarily be­lieve a game's quality depends on its cost.

Brant BatesScottsdale, AZ

17

STAR PROBE REVIEW

Interested in a game that offers some­things different in the way of SF con­flict situation s? Ha s the ultimate indetail, a game you win more by skillthan luck, a game the avid gamer canreally sink his teeth into?

STAR PROBE may be just what youare looking for. Played on a map con­taining some 2,000 star systems pic­tured in a 3D section of space repre­senting 150 light years by 100 light yearsby 115 light years. STAR PROBE ismassively detailed game of colonial ex­pansion with players competing moreagainst the random unknowns of the uni­verse than among themselves. Playervs. player conflicts are possible, butthe unadvisable as the possibility of en­countering fearsome life forms and hos­tile natives is all too great. Fightingwars cannot only cripple a player's ex­plorations, but costs him a fortune tofinance a s welle

Players/explorers begin the game witha minimum grant from their respectivegovernments. F rom this they must pur­chase such items as naval personnel,supplies and food for the proposed dura­tion of the voyage, specialty teams whichare subdivided in to Contact and Scien­tific teams, Marine groups, RepairCrews, missiles, fuel slugs, etc. Ob­viously the explorer cannot purchase allhe needs. Therefore he rn:ust plan hismission carefully and only purchasenecessities. One of the basic ideas ofthe game is for him to make the mostout of what little he has. This makesthe game a challenging contest of playersconfronting unknown civilizations and ad­justing his plans and resources to fit thespecific situation. His success dependsupon his foresight and planning.

T he victor is that explorer who hasmanaged to gain the most in terms ofcash and materials through his explora­tions while losing the least. This is whywars are avoided, unless the predictedcash gain will surpass the cash expendi­ture. STAR PROBE comprises a five

-year period divided into 60 game turnswith each turn measuring out a period ofone month. It is the first in a trilogy ofgame/rules and lays the path to succes­sive volumes where players will enlargethe sphere of influence obtained in STARPROBE into vast Stellar Empires, withplayer s having the freedom to do suchthings as design their own ships, detail

Game~ CompleXity

Physical OverQuality

~DWlgeons and Dragons 6.60 7.63 7.55Stellar Conquest 5.99 6.95

8.46

Lensrnen 7.34 8.338.50 7.41

T riplanetary 3.626.70 7.28

5.33Starforce 3.63 6.93

7.90 7.24

Star Probe 7.73 7.175.86 7.41

Star Lord 3.645.93 6.81

Alien Space4.88 6.36 6.64

2.63 4.06Si ege of Minas Tirith 3.56

5.28 6.35

4000 A.D.4.12 6.33 6.20

2.26Helms Deep

3.79 7.26 5.492.28 4.06

Battle of Five Armies5.14 4.77

3.00 3.50 4.68 4.74

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ad ventures with strange lifeforms andunknown civilizations, explore the re­~ains o~ vanished empires and engageIn cosm1C confrontations of ImperialFleet proportions.

Perhaps the greatest advance betweenSTAR PROBE and other games is thefact the game can be shortened or ex­tended indefinitely according to theplayers wants without losing the realismand structure of the game. Another u­nique aspect of STAR PRO BE is it pos­sesses the capability of being playedsolo with no loss of flavor of challenge.All aplayer has to do is decide on a timeperiod for the game to last, and whatconditions will determine if the won.For example, a win can be based on sur­passing a set number of Megarons (themonetary unit), on discovering a sourceof fuel or some other item needed byyour government, or cOITlpleting a courSEof exploration without sustaining lossesabove a certain percentage. For ad­vanced solo games, players may com­bme the requirements mentioned or addothers to determine their chances ofwinning ..

STAR PROBE has something of inter­est to everyone.

Edward C. CooperRiverside, CA

SF&F GAME RATINGS

Response to the ratings from issue #2was good. Over 400 separate ratingsnow give a reasonable base for com­paring games, especially a.mong betterknown games.. The ratings give hoursto play an average game, comple~the game, phys1cal quality of game com­ponents and~ rating of how you~iked the game. The overall category1S meant to mclude things like playabi­lityand such in relation to players per­sonal preferences. The scale is fromzero to ten.

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE GAMEWAR OF THE WORLDS II

WAR OF THE WORLDS II is a half­hearted attempt by one of the "thirdworld '! war game manufacturers to cre­ate a playable SF game on a planetary­~ystem scale .. Various starfaring racesmdependently approach an uninhabitated,resource rich, star system and eventu­ally squabble over it.

After close inspection of the game,r,0u ha ve the feeling you are holding agotta -beat-the -deadline -or- get-fired"

type effort. T he only thing to brag about1S the physical quality of the playingp1eces. They are large, high qualitystock, with rounded corners for easyhandling. Unfortunately, too small anallocation of the total budget went for theremainder of the game.

The art work depicting the variousstarships and planetary ships can best bedescribed by the comment of a friendwatching a game recently played. "Itlooks like the sewage plant and trolleycars are beating the tinker toy and turtleshells. "

.The game mechanics are quite simplew1th little attention paid to the laws ofphysics, economics, or military science.The planets do, however, manage to ro­tate around the star in epicycle fashion.. Complete destruction of the enemy islmpossible, winning is improbable, stale­mate is almost inevitable, and boredomis sure to set in. I unloaded the game ata small fraction of its cost to a ratherdense, now ex-acquaintance and he sure­ly got less than he bargained for.

David M. ReddingHouston, Texas

GAME REV1EW' ::;11,(,1'. U~MINAS TlRlJ II

The SIEGE F MJ.N 1\::; TIRIT1I is thebe st of the Middl· r,:a rth g me s that thisreviewer has had th ' pi -asure of playingSTM actually po rtrays the Battle ofPelennor Fields in addition to the siegeof the city. (For those unfamiliar withthe Lord .££.thc Rings, Pelennor Fieldsis an open area around the city ofMinas Tirith.)

Minas Tirith, the ITlajor city of Gon­dor, occupies only a small portion ofthe mapsheet used for the game. Thecity is represented by three concentricrings of walls (as described in the trilo­gy there were actually seven concentricrings of walls but this number was re­duced for game purposes). PelennorFields is a large area with terrainfeatures that are suitable for defenseand surrounded by a defensive wall, theRammas ·Echor. The river Anduinmarks the bound ry for the starting po­sitions of the antagonistic forces. Thearmy of Mordor (the black army) com­manded by the Lord of the Nazgul be­gins east of the river, while the city ofMinas Tirith and the Gondorian armyare west of the river. A narrow bandof seven hexes represent the only por­tion of the river suitable for a crossriver assault. On the west bank is theadvance guard for the forces of Gondor.They, of course, attempt to repel thecross river assault.

The forces of Gondor are divided in­to three pa rts: the advance guard atthe river, a defensive group behind theRammas Echor, and a garrison in thecity. No additional troops can be sentto help the advance guard until theblack army has landed troops on thewest bank of the river" Likewise, nogarrison troops can leave the city untilthe black forces have penetrated theRarnITlas Echor"

The black army is very powerful,but face s a couple of problems inwinning the contest. First, the army ofGondor can take advantage of a numberof terrain features that will facilitatetheir defense. These include ridges,forests and defensive walls. Secondly,the army of Gondor has two reliefcolumns that arrive late in the game.The Riders of Rohan under Theodenarrive in the nortl; on game turn 19,while A ragorn arrives with-help fromthe south on turn 21. 0 nce the se

19

l"l'inforcemenls arrive, it becomesvc ry difficult for the Lord of the Naz­gul to lead his troops to victory. HeI ust win early or face likely defeat.

To facilitate his attack, Nazgul alsogets reinforcements, including regulartroops, two oliphaunt Wlits (an oli­phauant is a large elephant), andGrond the Hammer of the Underworld.(Grond is a giant battering ram, theonly thing capable of breaking theGreat Gate of the City.) The game is aclassic example of a powerful armyattempting to overrun a hard-presseddefense before aid arrives.

The physical quality of the game isgood. T he map is on beige paper andprinted in three colors. Unit countersa re neatly made. Line drawings ofdifferent weapon types represent differ­ent units within the army (e. g. clubs,bows, schmitars). Orcs, troois,Easterlings, Riders of Rohan, andothers make up the counter mix.Special leader units exist, and moralerules simulate leader values effective­ly. Morale is important and, unlikesome morale rules, the ones in SMT donot gum up the game mechanics or addto play time.

An optional scenario includes the useof the Ring of Power by fecces ofGondor. The use of the Ring increasesthe likelihood of beating off the attackby Mordor, so long as control ismaintained over the force 'of the ring.If control is lost it becomes moredifficult for Gondor to defend itself. Ifthe ring is captured by the forces ofMordor, an irnITlediate and overwheaim·ing victory is gained by them.

All in all, the Siege of Minas Tirithis a good game and is faithful to thetrilogy. The rules allow replication ofthe events of the trilogy without forcingthe outcome. SMT can be played incompetition as well as solitaire and iswell worth the $5 cost.

SMT is de signed by Richard J ordisonand is available from Fact and FantasyGames, Box 1472, Maryland Heights,

MO 63043. Larry Pound

**Note to Buyers of THE YTHRI**

In THE SPACE GAMER issue #2 thead for THE YTHRI mentioned recordsheets and 288 play counters. In themajor revisions to the game the recordsheets were eliminated and the numberof counters was reduced to 242. So,that's why••.

20 21

.. N Dte tD Art C Dntr ibutDr s .•

Steve WestWarner Robins, GA

The mDst easily reprDducible illustra­tions are line drawings in black or redinks. The photDgraphy tD make Dff-setplates fDr reproductiDn sees blue as al­mDst transparent, so avoid blue. Shadingeffects, greys, etc. will reprDduce tosome degree, but make shadings fairly"heavy. Fixatives may be used as long asthey aren It too II glos syl' which may causeglare blanks in copy.

Reimbursement for illustrations varieswith the type, size, and our use Df theart work. You will get either cash o~

purchase credit for everything we print.

ALIEN SIJ,\(,l. I II "X Itll1g sciencefiction gallH' II Jut Hf battles in space.The conc~pt 01 lb. Jo!;lune was laken froo"lthe t. v. aho,," t, r 1 rt'k. Many of thecompon nl .~ rl SlIl1Llar to the thingsused Dn til· prog ram.

The gam' In ludes eight differenttypes Df spacecraft, each with its Dwnspecial weapDnry. There's the Rojun,with its Transperenators and MagmaBeams; the ZerDn has Stalker PDds,the Ea rth Ship, containing ProtDn Minesand Torped es, and many Dther types Dfships. Each ship has blazers, life sup­pDrt systems, shields, and each shipmay move at warp speed (the speed Dflight) ex cpt th' RDjun which moves at

sub-light ",Jeeo.One of til<' ,,\O... n d ra wback s Df the

gamt=, though, IS '.hat tl has no map.YDU need an d.I'",< o( at least eight feetsquare. Th,' pl,\y~rs move by inches,which alsD Illd.y both 'r some peDple.

The game t~ qutte run, even with theseset=backs. lL IS played with pure skill,no die rDlling Lnvolved.

The move's arC' sin1ultaneous, so youhave to try to ou guess your opponentstOD. TWD tu t'ight peDple can play, themDre peDple playIng the funner it is.

The pric s of the games are as fDllows(there are d iff rent amounts Df ships ineach game):

32 Ship A rmada Size Game ($13.25)24 Ship A rmada Size Game ($lO. 50)16 Ship A rmada Size Game ($7.50)8 Ship Scout Size Game ($4.50)

The game is by LDu ZDcchi, 1513 N ew­tDn Drive; Biloxi, MS 39532.

***********

A DIVERSION: ELDON TANNISH(Part lll)

Eldon stDDd immobile frDm exhaustiDnstaring intD the hDlographic display.Frowning lines of concentration andbeaded sweat in the air cmditioned play-Jer cubicle rendered his visage gauntly

Synopsis: Eldon Tannish is a giftedYDung computer gamer competing in theNorth American Convention (NOReON).a masters level game tournament somefifty years from now. lIThe Game ll is asupe r - sophisticated cDmpute r moderatedsimulation that pits six to twelve gamersin a fantastic variety of futuristic scena­rios. Players must master full scalestellar empires, limited small unit ac­tions, and non-combat competitions.

The Game is cDnducted with players inseparate cubicles, each with holographicdlsplay tanks and hard copy computerterminals for decision inputs. The holo­graph displays game actiDns in symbDlicIniniature with appropriate alpha numer­ic reference data. Each gamer also hashis Dwn pDcket-sized cDmputer (or mak­ing notes, doing analysis. and storingthe standard procedure s and plans eachgamer develDps during his career. Per­sonal computers are regulated in size,capacity, and performance so no playerga in s ad vantage.

In the first tWD installments EldDnsuccessfully passes cuts in qualifyinggame s to gain final competitiDn. Hisloner style is somewhat out of place inthe negotiatiDn-dependent. multi-playerenvironment, but his play is steadilyimproving. He hopes to become a mas­ter and be able: to live [rom winnings,something achieved by Dnly a few hun­dred masters level players. In this fu­ture, garners have the same status R!I

a tennis or gol[ pro n ow and prize mo­nies are substantial. Noted garners al­so serve as paid consultants for organi­zations who've come to prize their sy­nergistic prDblem analytic and decisiDn­

making !kills.A s we left Eldon in TSG 1/2, he was

launching a course of action in his firstmasters level match that wDuld try totake advantage Df a cDalition squeezebeing put Dn him. The coalition leader,Bulmar DenhDlt, was becDming a stum­bling block tD his progress, but Eldon"felt he could turn the tables as he SD

often did.

II. ;,I'ACEREVIU\free setup by the allies.The second scenario is one where

the dwarves fight the men and elves.(This scenariD was alsD drawn frDmThe HDbbit. In the bDDk this battle wasaVDided primarily because of the arri­val Df the Drc /worg army and the jDinteffDrt Df the allies tD dispose Df the e­vil fDrces.) In this scenariD the menand elves attempt tD prevent reinfDrce­ment frDm reaching the dwarves underthe mountain.

Finally, there is a scenariD wherethe dwarves fight Smaug the dragDn.The Smaug cDunter is a 100-100-15 andthe dwarves are represented by 2-2-4counters (attack, defense, movement,respectively). The DutcDme Df thisbattle is rarely in dDubt.

The mapsheet is beige with blackprinting and a little bit Df blue. Themarking s indicating ter rain feature 5

are sDmewhat cDnfusing, and Dne typeof terrain is not explained Dn the ter­rain effects chart. Unit cDunters arewhite fDr the allies and black (whatelse?) for the bad guys. The cDmbatresDlutiDn system requires a lO-sideddie Dr a 10 chit system, while mDralechecks require a standard die (neitherof which is provided). The moralesystem is very cumbersom.e and inmy opinion, detracts frDm the game.A morale ch eck is required Df eachstack after cDmbat, and as there aremany stacks of units, this prDcedureis time consuming and unwieldy. Thereis an additiDnal mDrale check on thearmies as a whole. It appears that dis­regarding the morale system has littleinfluence Dn the outcome Df the game.

The game has a few innDvative fea­tures. For example, a unit on a slopebut not on a rDad hex has a chance ofsliding dDwn the slope and being des­trDyed Dr disorganized. Another uniquefeature is a units capability Df rDllingrDcks down a slDpe on enemy units be­IDw them.

All in all, the game if fair, but thetDtal impression is nDt enhanced by the

cDIDrs used for the unit counters or theway the terrain features are drawn.

Larry FDundChadrDn, Nebraska

THE BATTLE OF THE FIVEARMIES is abattle described by J. R. R.Tolkien in The Hobbit. The battle DC­curs at the fDDt Df Lonely MDuntain, be­tween tWD ridges prDjecting DUt frDm themountain. The ridges form a lIV", withthe apex Df the "V" at the base Df themDuntain. At the apex there is an en­tryway leading tD a cavern, called sim­ply "under the mountain. II

The allied army (made up Df men,elves, and dwarves) must defend theentryway and prDtect themselves frDmattack by the evil Drcs and wDrgs(wolves). If by game turn 40, the evilfDrces can destrDy all the allied army,Dr cDntrDl the gateway and under themDuntain and destrDY hali the alliedarmy, it is a victory for evil.

The allied fDrces DCCUpy the ridgesat the Dutset Df the game with thedwarves and men Dn one ridge and theelves Dn the Dther. AlthDugh they DC­cupy a gDDd defensive pDsitiDn fDr self­prDtectiDn, they have tD be careful thatthey dD nDt get defeated in detail as thehalves Df the army are separated bysome distance. Also, the defensivepositiDn Dccupied leaves the middle Dfthe valley Dpen fDr penetration by theDrcs and wDrgs. If the valley is notclDsed Dff, the gateway tD under themDuntain is left virtually unprDtected.

The orcs and wDrgs Dutnumber theallies, and get additiDnal strength asthe game progresses. lt is difficult fDrthe allies to ward Dff the increasing"strength Df the evil fDrces, particularlyif the leader Df the evil fDrces does nDtallDw himself tD be tied dDwn tD aslugfest. By using a pDrtiDn Df hisfDrces tD tie down the allies, and anD­ther portiDn to attempt flanking mDve­ments, the Drc /wDrg player can makeit very difficult fDr the allies. Theallies, Dn the Dther hand, must insurethat they are in a pDsitiDn that willtake advantage Df the terrain tD pre­vent flanking effDrts and tD minimizethe number advantage Df the Dther sideby preventing their full deplDyment.

There are three scenariDs tD THEBATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES. Thefirst represents the battle that thegame is named after. That scenariohas tWD setups described in the rules.The first is the "historical" setup(just de scribed) and the secDnd is a

GAME REVIEW: THE BATTLE OFTHE FIVE ARMIES

22

aged.Tricked! Damn Bulmar's duplicity!

Damn the game and his nearly disastrCllSeagerness. Damn, Damn, Damn echoedin Eldon's skull a s tension failed to drainat game's end. He hadn't been trickedlike that since he was green. Turning aplayer's own clever plans against himwas a difficult maneuver with Eldon per­sistently the perpertrator rather thanvictim.

His legs eased drained flesh back intothe seat without awareness. Initialshocked rage was peaked and alreadyfading. Eldon was a calm person. But,aggressive, competitive anger at selfand opponents was not unfamiliar. Heknew human nature well enough to rea­lize competitiveness and emotional in­volvement were es sential to a mastergarner. He worked to direct and userather than supress an internal psycho­logy that could be only slowly changed.

Anger remained but analytical admi­ration for Bulmar's play began to join it.Tricked he was, and beaten perhaps, butlearn, improve, and evolve he certainlywould do. The game period ended andcubicles were emptying, but Eldon re­mained seated, isolated in thought.

Bulmar had beaten him by predictinghis reaction to a sure trap set by Bulmaland his allies. Eldon had apparentlyturned the tables enough for the style tobe predictable, especially when coupledwith a loner's game .. Bulmar's trapwithin a trap had sprUng close to the endLittle reaction was possible. Eldon hadprobably lost and been eliminated fromthe tournament.

Eldon slowly stood and stretched. Sobe it. 1£ defeat were the golden oppor­tunity to learn and improve, fate hadhanded him a block buster. 1£ he werestill in, pos sible, given the wildly con­fused fifteen-minute game's end, he'dhave to devise a whole new style of playby morning. 1£ Bulmar could read him,so could others. Changing play stylewasn't his style, but adapting was.Could he change under pressure despitea comfortably maverick loner's role?

Calming mental exercises complete,he left the cubicle to walk the concour se.He wanted to view results in the garners'lounge, but elimination or survival wasless important than grokking this freshexperience in full. More than anythingelse he'd wanted masters status fromthis tournament. The winnings would goa long way toward freeing him to be a

full-time competitor.He paced slowly, insensitive to the

heavy, excited crowds of fans and ga­rners. Today's match had a capacity45, 000 viewing games on the central a­rena's sixty-foot holograph. I,s many astwenty million would have watched si­multaneous holocasts to the westernhemisphere. The Game's va"t fO:llowingwas greatly helped by action-packed holographic recreations generated by com­puter. Primitive garners wo lId havebeen stunned to know the feeE a gamehero earned for endorsing clothes andtoiletries.

Pausing in an eddy of peop.e nearCenter's main entrance, Eld:>n becameaware of a game I 5 monitor pushing hisway through the crush. An diminationnotice so soon! Eldon wordlessly poc­keted the message plug and :;trade out­side to the pedestrian walk level abovethe traffic. A gymnasium ill convenientwalking distance had been a pleasantfind on his first day in New Lavegas.

Eldon's deep concentration made himunaware of the time lapse 0: walking,changing, and sweat-suited jogging. Noone else paced this supper hour with himon the gym's quarter mile 100f track-­legs r\1ythmically pumped Founding feet.Two miles at seven minutes graduallyincreased to a five minute -Jace for thefinal two mile s. He believ'~d in mentaltraining as one believed in gravity. But,the strained work of physical exerciseyielded a kinesthetic joy urdiminishedby pained straining.

Jogging finished, Eldon Nandered dONl1to the gym's work out area s. Despitethe work at running he warted somethingelse to concentrate. The floor wasnearly deserted except for isolated ex­ercisers. At the far end, dark curlyhair. Alba? Eldon strode down to theother end. Sure enough, .\lba was work.ing her way through a modified karateexercise"

"Hi, Alba," Eldon greeted.A nod was her acknowl"dgement of

him.

"Want to work out?" asked Eldon.Alba finished her series a·:J.d said,

"I'll have to go get my suit. Do you haveone? II

liND, II responded Eldon, "but I can geta center." Technolo gy had affected e­ven karate. T he suits they needed wereintricate webs of padding and sensors.The padding allowed wor.<outs at nearfull speed with actual irr pads being

wid.l y I You could getbrut , I, I ,•• 1 louk an expert deliber­ally II I. I. hr oak a bone. The sen-

II I I" H -l to read out impactsI d \t.l to personal computers

for l I I tuJ.! ,Ind analysis.II,,, wllh suils, Alba weighted hers to

sim"I,II- 1. 15 gravity and set the tensionsh. '<1 havtl lo fight at 50/0 above normal.SI", was a rated amateur and Eldon wouldn 'cd lhe edge to make the workout com­petitive.

tlSan Francisco convention? II askedAlba.

llFine here, II Eldon agreed, 'Ineitherof uo nc -do an injury. Sure you don'twant to spot rne a few points margin? II

"Y n" .huule! b - paying me a fee for aI •• 011," .mil d Alba sardonically.

TI",y circled slowly working for posi­tion. In, out; thrust, grab, and jab.Th p., I' );rudually quickened as bothearnl'Ylly Het lhemselves to score. Theywo rkl'd I hI' wh Ie of the mat for betterthan 1\ hou r, Despite her cOlnpensationAlba slill nul-scored Eldon with littletroubJ.·. Eldon only studied karate forthe cone. l'utration and co ordination. Hetried lo Will when he worked out but hemostly w,lnt d exercise and competition.He raJ"ely worked with someone as ex­pert as Alba and was extending himselfto the ullno ht.

Wilh Alba sitting on his chest for theumpl nlh l.me, Eldon called it quits.llNow if yuu'll carry me to the showers,I'll b lhrough for sure," quipped Eldon,

"As .f .l'd be worth hauling your over­muscl ..d arcass anywhere, 11 said Albaas she gut up, but conceded, "You'regetting belter even if your cunning didslow you. Let'g shower. II

llyou still in The Game?'l he asked,lath ring his hair a few moments later.

"y h," admitted Alba, "by the skinof my Leeth. l'm already farther alonglh n I'd expected. How'd you do?"

"Don'l know yet," he admitted withsome surprise. "I got my message plugand stuck it in my pocket. Bulmar, youknow Bulmar don't you, he trapped megood and I think I'm out."

III don 't know what to make of you,'lAlba said, "I couldn't have waited tofind out. You must have really had yourego shaken up to do that."

"Not really" Well, some, 'cause 1felt pretty stupid. It just made me re­alize Bulmar was predicting me. I'mpatterning and even if 1 survived, 1 1m inbad shape. T he c~mputerls sure to keep

me in nine to twelve player brawlswhere I'm worst and I've got to changemy style or stand no chance. "

"Why don't you find out?"Eldon ruffled his hair with a towel and

walked over to his pants. Inserting themessage plug in his ear and waited forthe ident check. Ten point seven per­cent and a sixth finish made him justbarely still in the game. Bulmar hadtrapped him, but had undere stimatedjust how much covert activity Eldon hadgoing.

"l'm in, II he said with a surprisedsmile.

IlLet l s go eat, II Alba said, as excitedas she ever got, which wasn't excited atall. They dressed and walked back tothe Garnes center.

111£ you've become predictable, you'rein bad shape for sure. Have you thoughtof a Problem Analysis, 11 she inquired.

"Not for two years, '1 he t"esponded""It might help." "Mi ght" was the keyword. Problem Analysis was a fullanalysis of ability and past games doneby The Garnes' computer, but directedby the player. You could find out anawful lot, but you had to ask the rightquestions.

"Well?ll

Eldon stopped suddenly, deciding.l1You l re right, Alba, II said Eldon. III'vegot to have more to go on and that'sprobably the best way. I'd better getstarted right away if I'm going to getany sleep at all." .

"Good luck," said Alba, patting him onthe cheek with a quick kiss. "Be sureyou cover your diplomatic and leader­ship attributes thoroughly. A pure lonerhas never been winner and you're aboutas pure as you can get. "

Eldon went to find a monitor and geta cubicle for his Problem Analysis ses­sion. He had four hours before mid­night and needed every minute. Cha'llingyour style in the middle of a tournamentusually destroyed a player's carefullybalanced play processes. Eldon felt hehad to change if he'd become predictableBetter start immediately even if hecouldn't finish high, he wouldn't anywayif he could be trapped.

Settling down at a cubiale terminal,he began setting up an initial run as­suming his diplomatic skills and reli­ance were upped 50% with all other a­bilities constant. Alba was an excel­lent group player and her advice wasgood, if infrequent••.•..

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